Searching for trade routes to the East
The need for new trade routes
When Elizabeth took over, semi-finished woollen cloth made up 90% of English exports. Fear of unemployment in the country's largest industry meant that the health of the export market for cloth was an overriding consideration throughout Elizabeth's reign. The Dutch were England's major client for cloth exports and the port of Antwerp, in the Netherlands, was the main commercial centre for both imports and exports. The Netherlands, however, were then a Spanish province and this meant that the stability of the European market for English cloth, and the availability of imports in return, were affected by the state of relations between Spain, England and the Netherlands. The dependence on a single product and a sole client had to be addressed. At the same time, Spain and Portugal also dominated Atlantic trade routes to the East, for which it was hope alternatives could be found.
Anglo-Russian trading
Financial problems meant that Antwerp had been in decline since 1551 and other alternatives had been actively sought since then. A search for a navigable North-East Passage to China, through the Arctic seas above Russia, failed in 1553 but none the less did succeed in establishing a direct trade with Russia.
The need to spread the risk among many small investors when financing long-distance ventures such as this led, in Mary's reign, to the creation of the first joint-stock company. The Muscovy Company, founded in 1555 to facilitate trade with Russia, had 201 shareholders, including Elizabeth. Although Elizabeth did not invent joint-stock companies, they thrived during her reign as a way to finance speculative ventures.
The port of Archangel in the White Sea was founded during Elizabeth's reign and the Muscovy Company flourished, backed by many members of her court. Anthony Jenkinson was one of the Company's most successful merchants and soon became the Queen's ambassador to the court of Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible). The Muscovy Company continued to search for viable sea routes to the East but, when they proved too hazardous, began to explore overland routes with the Tsar's blessing.
Although, from the English point of view, the relationship with Russia was about trade, not politics, the Tsar would only meet with the merchants if they appeared to be an official embassy. Expensive tributes had to be presented and paraded through the streets of Moscow to give to the Tsar. Jenkinson himself made four trips to Russia, taking gifts like a silver gilt wine cup (right). Many such examples still survive in the Kremlin Armouries in Moscow.
The search continues
In 1564 Cecil drew attention to the unhealthy reliance on the port of Antwerp and the impact of fluctuating Anglo-Spanish relations. 'It were better for this realm', he wrote, '… that the commodities of the same were issued out rather to sundry places than to one and specially to such one as the lord thereof is of so great power.'
The outbreak of the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule in 1566, and deteriorating Anglo-Spanish relations, made the situation even more critical. A secure European market was essential, as was the need for new ones. New markets were opened in Germany and the search for others gathered momentum, both as outlets for English cloth and as direct sources of imported goods.
During the 1570s and 1580s the search for a North-East and North-West Passage to open up new markets in the East continued. Licensed by Elizabeth, backed by the Muscovy Company and tutored in navigation by John Dee, explorer and privateer Martin Frobisher led the search for a North-West Passage above present-day Canada. Frobisher and his men made three voyages between 1576 and 1578, sailing across the Atlantic Ocean and landing on Baffin Island in northern Canada. The land was claimed for Elizabeth, who named it 'Meta Incognita' (unknown boundary).
With the discovery on the first trip of black stone which was believed to contain gold and silver, the mission of the expedition was diverted from exploration to mining. North America's first gold rush was on and Elizabeth herself invested £1000 in it. Mines were built and around 1400 tons of black ore was taken back to England. The ore proved worthless, the venture collapsed and investors were bankrupted.
Despite the failure of many of the early expeditions, they produced a growth in maritime knowledge and confidence. This growing confidence and the excitement that surrounded the ventures was to produce more spectacular results later. It also fuelled a vision of England as an entity that extended beyond its own shores.
Anthony Jenkinson
Anthony Jenkinson (1530–1609) was a seaman and merchant-adventurer. He was the first European to travel widely in Russia and Central Asia, leading overland expeditions trying to reach China and exploring Persia, with the hope of establishing trade. He reached Astrakhan (900 miles south-east of Moscow in the Volga-Caspian basin of the Russian Federation), Bukhara (in the Republic of Uzbekistan) and Kazan (in the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation). Jenkinson's detailed accounts of the journeys provided much-needed new information about these regions and their inhabitants. His map of Russia from 1562 was incorporated into Abraham Ortelius's ground-breaking atlas of 1570, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the Lands of the World).
Martin Frobisher
Martin Frobisher (c.1537–94) was a Yorkshire-born seaman, adventurer and occasional privateer. Although his expeditions failed to find the much-desired North-West Passage, or provide the financial returns many hoped for, the voyages were well documented and represent the first English claim to northern North America. He later gained fame and was knighted for his service in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.